Chapter Nineteen

Sela fired another shot. Stone chips flew up, hitting the walls of the cave and the man hiding behind the rock.

Her chest ached as she stared at him. What if he was human? Could she kill him knowing that? Even though he might be responsible for her family’s deaths, could she really bring herself to shoot another human being?

Slowly, she lowered the barrel of the gun. She couldn’t do it. She could never take the life of another. Not like this. Her stomach churned as she thought of how she’d wanted nothing more than to end his life. Now, faced with the opportunity, she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t shoot an unarmed man.

“Damn it!” Sela shot three consecutive rounds toward the man, sending shards of stone everywhere.

The odd hologram-like thing surrounding him faltered. Pixels of color and light flashed around him, and his disguise failed. In Cal Johnson’s place was a large green reptilian creature. Like a human, it had two arms, two legs, a body, and a head, but that was where the similarities ended. The creature standing before her had a head more like a tyrannosaurus than a man. Its glowing orange eyes tracked her every movement.

Gasping, she leaped back, the barrel of the rifle dropping lower still in her disbelief.

Taking advantage of her shock, it lunged toward her, reaching for the gun.

This time, she didn’t hesitate. Sela repeatedly pulled the trigger and unloaded the semiautomatic weapon into the center mass of the... thing that had been Cal Johnson.

The creature fell back, the strange orange glow fading from its monstrous eyes. Her stomach churned as she dropped her weapon to the ground, heedless of any danger around her.

How could she come to terms with the things she’d seen and done? How would she ever return to a normal life after seeing gorgeous men turn into huge saber tooth tiger-like things and green aliens from hell?

Spinning around, she ran from the cave. If Johnson, or whatever that was, had more men out here, they were welcome to put an end to her misery. Dying was preferable to losing her mind, and Sela was sure she’d totally lost it.

Blindly, she ran and ran through the darkness, stumbling through brush and over tree roots. No matter how fast or far she ran, she couldn’t seem to outrun the scene in the cave that kept replaying in her mind.

Cal Johnson was an alien. A dead alien. And she’d been the one to kill him—it—whatever.

That part didn’t bother her as much as finding out she was crazy. Either that or the man she’d been quickly losing her heart to was a strange-looking shapeshifting tiger-man thing.

Her foot caught on a thick tree root, and she fell onto her hands and knees. Her chest heaving, she stayed on the ground, her fingers digging into the soft soil. Coiled energy drained from her and into the ground. As strange as it seemed, she felt her body drawing in a new, calmer energy from the Earth itself. Closing her eyes, she attempted to bring everything that had just happened into focus, trying to make some sort of sense out of it.

“We’re just like you, you know.”

She didn’t jump at the sound of Ceno’s voice. In fact, part of her had realized he followed her. No matter what she might feel with any other man, he would never frighten her. Just the sound of his voice calmed her more when she knew it shouldn’t. She felt confusion, sure, but shouldn’t she feel fear as well? After all, the man could shift his shape. That wasn’t even possible, was it?

“What... What are you?”

“I am a Zolon raider turned warrior.”

“What’s a Zolon warrior?”

“A man, for the most part.” He shrugged and leaned against a tree, his hands in his pockets. “Originally, my brothers and I came here to raid this planet of its resources. We had no idea it was occupied until we crashed here.”

“You were going to steal our resources?” She took a deep breath. “Great. I’ve been hanging out with a thief.”

“You’ve got it all wrong. We had no intention of raiding your world when we discovered sentient life here. But our ship crashed, and we had no choice but to stay and make a living on this planet.”

“No choice, huh?” Her heart sank. How could she fall in love with a man who would leave her the first chance he got? It was Jack all over again. What was it with her and falling for the walkaway types?

Turning, she started walking. She might not have the energy to find her way home, but she’d damn sure find that little cabin her grandparents stayed in when her parents were both alive. It was around here somewhere. She could feel it.

Sighing, Sela shook her head. Good grief! She’d gone from not believing in her grandfather’s hooey to living it. Still, her irritation didn’t keep her from following the strange feeling of the cabin in the distance. She’d follow the odd pull, and when she got to the little cottage, she’d slam the door in Ceno’s face.

She turned and limped toward the north. That’s exactly what she’d do.

“Yes. We had no choice. The crash landing destroyed our ship and almost killed us. If it weren’t for the kind people of Magic, New Mexico, we all would have perished in the resulting fire. Luckily for us, the townsfolk there are a little different from most. They pulled us from the wreckage and helped us build a life here.”

“Where are we going?” He followed her for a few minutes, obviously waiting for an answer.

“I’m going to find my grandparents’ old cottage. It’s around here somewhere.” She glared at him and arched a brow. “I have no idea where you’re going, but it’s certainly not with me.”

“We need to talk.”

“No, we don’t.” She pressed her lips together to keep herself from saying something she’d regret. “We needed to talk when you first got here. When you insinuated yourself into my life. Before you turned into some kind of... of weird tiger-like thing right before my eyes.” She wiped her eyes to clear her blurred vision. “The time to talk was before...” She sobbed and waved her arm. “Before all of this. Before I...” She lowered her voice to a whisper so he wouldn’t hear her—couldn’t hear her. “Before I fell in love with you.”

“I love you, too.” Ceno swept her up into his arms and nuzzled the top of her head. “I’ve waited most of my life to meet a woman like you. You have no idea what it’s like on my world. You’re a miracle to me.”

How could she believe him? How could she ever come to terms with the fact that he was at least part animal and she loved him? Was marrying someone like him even legal?

Where had that come from? Sela pushed the thought away. She was so not marrying a strange shapeshifting alien from outer space. God, that sounded so much like a B-movie title, it almost made her laugh out loud. She snorted instead.

“Put me down, Ceno. I’m not about to let you sprain your back. You and your family are leaving tomorrow. You can have all the gold in the cave. Just get the hell out of my life.”

“You don’t mean that.”

He was right. Sela sighed. How could he know her so well in such a short time when she knew so little about him? She wriggled in his arms, snuggling closer to his warmth. She might not know him, but she knew she liked the feel of his arms around her. Was that really such a bad thing?

“If you’re going to insist on carrying me to my grandparents’ cottage, the least you could do is shift that blaster to the back of your waistband instead of the front. It’s digging into my hip.”

“That’s not a blaster, darlin’.” He winked at her and then grinned. “Though, I thank you for thinking it was.”

Oh, God. Please let me drop dead now.

“It’s that way.” She pointed a bit to the left.

“I know.”

“How could you possibly know that?”

“I can smell it.”

“Please don’t remind me that you’re not quite human.”

“I’m not quite an animal either.” He moved silently through the brush. “I hope you don’t mind, but I told the others I have you and you’re safe. They’re taking Clyde back to the house.”

Wonderful. She didn’t think she could face anyone else just yet. Figuring out what she was going to do about her inappropriate feelings for an alien shapeshifter was enough on her plate for the rest of the night.

They walked in silence until the cabin came into view.

“Is the door locked?”

“Yes. But the key is in one of those key rock things you always see people using on TV.” She wriggled a bit and then stopped, her face burning when she came in contact with his blaster again. “I’ll get it if you’ll put me down.”

“I’ll put you down if you promise not to lock me out. We really need to talk about what’s going on between us. You deserve an explanation.”

“All right.” She sighed. “You can come in, but I’m not promising I won’t kick you right back out after you say your piece.”